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City to launch daily walking-condition bulletin
JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES Enlarge Image
Coun. Harvey Smith was injured after a fall outside, after handing out flyers protesting a fare hike.
Daniel McIntyre Coun. Harvey Smith, who fractured a femur in a fall on a slippery patch of Main Street near city hall, is urging Winnipeggers to pay attention to a new daily walking-condition bulletin.
The 75-year-old councillor, who is recovering from surgery at Health Sciences Centre, helped announce the launch of a bulletin called SureFoot, which launches Friday on the City of Winnipeg's website, Twitter, Facebook and the city's 311 service.
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"Let me tell you this: I didn't plan it. I didn't want to get injured myself," Smith told reporters at an HSC cafeteria.
The bulletin is intended to let seniors and other people with mobility issues know the general condition of city sidewalks and streets. It breaks down conditions into four general categories -- easy, moderate, difficult and hazardous -- for the entire city.
Conditions for specific streets and sidewalks are not available. The point of the bulletin is to allow people who do not know the conditions outside how well they will be able walk outside, said Gina Sylvestre of the University of Winnipeg's Institute for Urban Studies.
Students set up the program with the help of a $5,000 grant, she said. Maintaining the daily bulletin will not result in additional operating costs for the City of Winnipeg, she added.
Smith said he is happy Mayor Sam Katz supports the program.
"It's one of the good things I can say about him," joked Smith, who was injured when he was returning from a protest against the city's planned 20-cent bus-fare hike.
On a more serious note, Lynne Warda of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority said falls of all sorts result in approximately $164 million in annual health-care spending. Some older patients do not fully recover from falls and end up in long-term care facilities or even die, she said.
Anything that has the potential to reduce falls and prevent fractures may save lives and health-care dollars, she said.
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Updated on Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 3:56 PM CST: corrects spelling of Gina Sylvestre’s name
4:52 PM: adds video
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